Charity Shop Bargain

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Dr Dollar devised his Clinometer for purposes other than checking railway inclines … it just happened to be adopted by the Coal Board as a useful instrument.

**LINK**

http://www.earthquakes.bgs.ac.uk/hazard/pdf/wl9915.pdf

I will post more if/when I find anything of interest.

MichaelG.

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Edit: __ Wikipedia being often a good place to start: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibald_Thomas_John_Dollar

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 02/03/2023 18:30:25

But presumably useful for other purposes than checking rail inclines! The 1in 60 Noel mentioned is less than one degree.

Out of interest does Dollars device have a steel ball running in a curved track?

Ian P

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Yes

MichaelG.

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Agreed

I think the moral of the story might be : Don’t believe everything you read on WorthPoint

MichaelG.

Harrington and Lowca light railway had a section at 1 in 17. I'm not saying they didn't struggle.

Well found Michael,

I've had a similar item in my toolkit for over forty years. It's been used to measure/set angles on brickwork, metalwork, pipework, mounting brackets and control equipment to name but a few.

It's never needed recalibrating nor does it require recharging or a subscription to operate.

I've used it in hostile environments that would reduce a smartphone to a pile of bubbling plastic, or fry it's electronics in all the stray electromagnetic or radio fields present.

All in all a very useful piece of equipment.

David

I have an essentially similar one, though without I try and find it I can't recall its make. I bought it quite recently, brand-new, too - within the last decade anyway, for use in my hobby of geology... but have never used it!

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I've also owned a "pair" of Suunto (Finnish-made) clinometer and compass, each reading to half a degree. They each fit a small aluminium-alloy block of identical external dimensions and bores, maybe 70 X 40 X 12mm outside.

The clinometer uses a weighted protractor, the compass is magnetic; both are read by sighting past the index mark with one eye while reading the scale through a lens built into the body.

Though of pocket-size they are on lanyards threaded through small leather pouches so they can be carried slung round the neck, for ready use.

I do not know Suunto's history and original main market, but these instruments were once used extensively for surveying (mapping) caves to high grade, though more often now this is done by a type of laser range-finder and the data then fed into a plotting programme.

I bought mine from a second-hand market near Glasgow, and when I cleaned them discovered they bore vibrator-engraver markings of University of Hull Geology Department. I haven't the foggiest idea how they ended up where they did; but they were labelled with rather vague ideas of "some sort of compass". I explained them to the staff, who obligingly wrote new labels for them. Ten minutes later I went back and bought them!. I no longer have them, but donated them to one of my caving-clubs.

That does look more useful than a smart phone inclinometer in some ways. I used a phone app when sorting out part of our stair case and when levelling a shower tray. If anything, the digital device was too sensitive. The slightest movement of the device would change the reading so much it became almost impossible to use.

Somewhere, I have my grandad's old mechanical rev counter. It is a small, hand-held device that has friction pad on the end. You push this against the rotating part and watch a wheel spin around whilst timing it. You then simply read off from the scale. It is so easy and reliable, although I confess that I am not sure of its accuracy.

James.

Back in 1982, I and several others from Sheffield University Speleological Society went on a trip to Lefka Ori mountains in Crete.
Several folk had never done any cave surveys before, so we had a training/controlled-experiment on the surface where everyone took bearings and clino measurements on a distant peak using that style of Suunto gear.
Interestingly, everyone got repeatable results, but in many cases the actual observed bearings were different.
We never did find out why, but some individuals got repeatable results up to 3° either side of the true reading.
I carried a Silva mirror compass with magnetic deviation adjustment, and passed that around.
Everyone got the same reading with that.
It did allow each person to effectively calibrate their own eye/methodology, and adjust their own readings, so the survey results probably ended up reasonably accurate.

Bill